Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

BBC World Service Objectives, Priorities and Targets

David Rutley: My Noble Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Lord Cameron) has today made the following statement:The BBC Chairman and I have agreed the “Objectives, Priorities and Targets” (OPTs) for the BBC World Service Licence. These have been set until the end of the current Spending Review period in 2025. The Licence can be found on the BBC website.The BBC World Service is the world's largest international news provider, globally broadcasting news, documentaries and discussions in 42 languages. It remains the world’s most trusted broadcaster and is instrumental in helping to promote the UK and its values across the globe through high quality, accurate and impartial reporting.At a time when global media freedoms are under threat from malign state actors, this role cannot be underestimated. As such, I was pleased the Government was able to announce in March 2023 an uplift of £20m to the World Service over the next two years, protecting all 42 language services, in recognition of its crucial role in supporting UK soft power, projecting UK culture and values overseas, and in countering harmful disinformation.The objectives for the World Service contribute to the fulfilment of the Mission and the promotion of the BBC’s Public Purposes, including providing high-quality news coverage; current affairs; and factual programming to international audiences, which is firmly based on British values of accuracy, impartiality, and fairness. The objectives focus on four key areas:maximising the editorial impact and influence of the World Service for UK and global audiences, including through building valued reach;protecting the World Service’s position as the most trusted provider of accurate and independent international news and current affairs;reflecting the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world through providing accurate, impartial and independent news that allows audiences to engage in democratic processes as informed citizens and better resist disinformation,demonstrating value for money and transparency, seeking alternative sources of funding where appropriate.The BBC Chairman and I have also agreed ambitious global audience targets for the World Service of 303m for 2023/24 and 306m for 2024/25.The BBC will report annually against the Objectives, Priorities and Targets I have agreed with the BBC Board, including an assessment of progress against quantitative targets. I will meet the BBC Chair (or their nominated representatives) annually to discuss the services, review the performance report, and consider any adjustments that need to be made, including targets. If the BBC Chair and I agree, we may also consider adjustments to services outside this timing, in response to significant changes in market conditions or world events.

Home Office

Home Office 2023-24 funding

James Cleverly: The Home Office net cash requirement for the year exceeds that provided by the Main Estimate 2023-24. The Supplementary Estimate has not yet received Royal Assent. The Contingencies Fund advance is required to meet commitments until the Supplementary Estimate receives Royal Assent, at which point the Home Office will be able to draw down the cash from the Consolidated Fund in the usual way, to repay the Contingencies Fund advance. Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £2,600,000,000 will be sought in a Supplementary Estimate for Home Office. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £2,600,000,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.

Ministry of Justice

Video-Witnessing Wills

Mike Freer: My honourable Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Lord Bellamy, has made the following statement:“The Government is announcing today that it is not extending the legislation it introduced as a special measure during the Covid-19 pandemic to permit remote (video) witnessing of wills. The legislation was originally introduced in September 2020, amending the Wills Act 1837 so the normal requirement that two people must witness the testator signing to make their will in person could be extended to include remote witnessing by video-link. The Government and professional bodies published guidance on the steps that should be taken where wills were video-witnessed. This temporary legislation was a response to the practical difficulties of having wills witnessed whilst restrictions on movement to limit the spread of the virus were in force, and at a time when more people wanted to make wills. The Government has always provided guidance that video-witnessing wills should be regarded as a last resort due to increased risks of formalities not being properly followed or risk of undue influence”. The Government decided to extend the temporary legislation for a further two years in February 2022. At the time the United Kingdom had only recently ended a further set of restrictions and there were concerns about further strains of the virus. However, the special circumstances which applied when this measure was put in place no longer apply. In-person witnessing of wills is no longer subject to restrictions. As such we have decided not to extend the temporary legislation beyond 31 January 2024.”

Ministry of Defence

Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme Update

James Heappey: I would like to update the House on developments relating to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme and the Ministry of Defence’s progress in processing applications to the scheme from former members of Afghan specialist units. We owe a debt of gratitude to these brave individuals who served for, with or alongside our Armed Forces in support of the UK mission in Afghanistan. Defence is determined to honour the commitments we have made under the ARAP scheme. That is why we have robust checks in place and regularly review our processes and procedures. While many former members of Afghan specialist units, including former members of CF333 and ATF444, have been found eligible under ARAP and safely relocated to the UK with their families, a recent review of processes around eligibility decisions demonstrated instances of inconsistent application of ARAP criteria in certain cases. In light of this, we are taking necessary steps to ensure that the ARAP criteria are applied consistently. As such, I can confirm that the MOD has decided to undertake a reassessment of all eligibility decisions made on ineligible applications with credible claims of links to Afghan specialist units. This reassessment will be done by independent staff within the MOD, who have not previously worked on these applications. They will review each application thoroughly on a case-by-case basis. ARAP applications from this cohort present a unique set of challenges in assessing their eligibility. It is the case that such units reported directly into the Government of Afghanistan, meaning HMG does not hold employment records or comprehensive information, in the same way that we do for many other applicants. Understanding the depth of feeling ARAP evokes across this place and beyond, we thank Members for their ongoing advocacy and support for ARAP. We have that same depth of feeling in the MOD and in government, and we will now work quickly to deliver it.